As my new Corvette is being built and the time is getting closer I cant help but to think about the awful depreciation. I am going to be paying cash or financing a very small amount of the car, and as a first time vette owner (or sports car owner) I am amazed at the rate of depreciation. Prior to looking at the corvette, I was looking at the Porsche Cayman S, but I just love the looks and numbers on the vette.

I had a look at the KBB today at a 2013 and 2012 corvette spec'd out roughly the same as my order on my 2014. I spec'd both cars out to about $68k worth of options on the chevy site and on KBB here's what I found:

2013 Base Corvette Coupe with the same options you can spec on the site right now. is worth only $46K (with 13500 miles) on KBB.com or $48K (with 200 miles)

That's a loss of almost $30k in the first year if you include the taxes you paid on the vehicle, or over $25K the minute you drive it off the lot OUCH!!

The 2012 Base Corvette Coupe with the same options is worth only $44K (with 13500 miles) on KBB.com

While the 2012 Porsche Cayman S with roughly $68k worth of options , fairs a bit better than the vette holding value of $52K (Holding its value by $8K better after the first year)

2012 Corvette (optioned to $68k) now worth $44K
2012 Cayman (optioned to $68k) now worth $52K

I know we all understand that cars lose value the minute we drive them off the lot, but I would really like your opinions, thoughts, and techniques for dealing with this pain

I guess I justify it by saying I am going to keep the car for at least 15 years, but the problem arises when/if I want to trade for a 2015 GS, ZR1 etc.....

 

It's only money, make more tomorrow. Seriously though, very few new cars are sound investments. This is a want item, not a need. Buy it, drive it, enjoy it.

 

Chit happens. Cars are lousy investments initially. You have to ask yourself is it worth the financial burden, buying a new car or used? My dad only bought one car in his life. A '69 Corvette. He had no regrets and could say he owned one new car. I haven't bought new yet, but am working on making the C7 my first. Maybe my last, who knows.

Everyone is different though, and not everyone is hung up on depreciation.

 

Just have to resolve yourself to the idea that you have to pay to play.

 

I avoid the depreciation hit by usually just buying used. I've only bought 2 new cars in my life. Of course it will be a while before used C7s will be rolling around. If I do buy a C7 it will probably be used.

 

Think of it in terms of miles, not years, if it makes you feel better.

$68,000 car? Drive it 68,000 miles and depreciation will be way less than $1/mile. Drive it twice that far and depreciation sinks to well under 50 cents/mile. My 2011 Coupe 1LT ("Poverty Package") was $42k new, at least $28k now, and I have 54k miles of smiles, at barely 25 cents/mile.

Don't be like the guys who bought the two Ferrari FFs for sale at my nearest dealer, which lost more than $50k each in maybe two years even though each has only a thousand miles on it. Guess the owners were trying to not drive them so they wouldn't--wait for it--lose value. It's just a car, in our case just a Chevy hatchback, drive it!

 

Invest in your happiness. Not your wallet.

 

I was just reading a March 2012 R&T, where they had a long term test on a BMW 760Li. That car want from $149,000 to $88,500 over 1 year and 33,500 miles (lots of miles).

Still, they lost $60,000 in only one year on that car.

At least the C7 will likely be worth more than $8,000 in a year!

One problem with the Boxster and Cayman is that if you option those cars to $68,000, you get practically no luxury features. Would still be awesome cars though.

-T

 

You failed to take into account that the discounts on a new base Corvette have been well over $10,000.00 or more for several years.

I believe Kerbeck is selling new 2013 base Corvettes in the low $40k range.

You need to take into account what a new car will cost you, not the list price, when figuring out depreciation.

 

Rydell has a few on the lot that are just south of 40K I believe. (I was just there and almost all of them were in the low 40s.)

 

This is the biggest mistake people make when figuring depreciation. You also have to factor in the new model release at this time, which causes a temporary imbalance from the norm.

 

For me I had bought a couple C5's (used) an 05 Cpe (used)!

When I did factory order my 2008 Cpe the way I wanted it, I kept it for over 5 years!

It was the longest I've ever owned a car!

If, GM hadn't changed body style, I wouldn't have sold it last week!

So, maybe if you get car the way you want, you'll keep it longer!

 

Factor in the discounts.

Take a peek at Mercedes "65" series, they lose about $30k-40K / YEAR for the first few YEARS!!

If you keep it long enough it won't matter. A 06 Cayman S goes for about $20-25k, a 06 Corvette goes for about them same.

 

I think you are having ''buyers remorse''..before the car is delivered..
Maybe all this liquid cash you are putting towards the Vet is really a
mistake on your part ..
After tuning 40 years old I never made any major investment with out
my financial guy giving me a good once over....With his input I was able to buy some toys,help my kids and retire at a good time ...

 

Admittedly I'm sometimes easily mistaken in math but...

Is yours correct?

How are you coming up with $30K lost (counting taxes) in the first year. $68K minus $48K equals $20K. Where do you live that you are paying $10K in taxes?

Secondly, it's wrong to lump taxes into depreciation of the car. Taxes--which vary from place-to-place--have nothing to do with the value of a car. The car's value as determined by KBB or Edmunds doesn't consider taxes when arriving at a value. Blame your country/state for that loss--not the car.

Finally, as listed above, it's wrong to show your point by listing the MSRP of a 2013 'Vette when Kebeck (just one dealer) is (was) selling the base coupe with about an $8K discount (and likely a bigger discount considering all the options you put on it to get it to $68K).

Very quickly--omitting taxes and considering the discount--the depreciation would come to about $11K.

One more thing. Most buyers know that a car's depreciation is worst in its initial years. After 3 years, it slows down considerably. So, average that initial year's lose out by keeping the car a minimum of 5-6 years.

And as many suggested, enjoy the ride !

 

From a strictly financial point a car is one of the worst investments you can make. I do not need a Vette to get around, but it sure is a bunch of fun. And, that is what I pay for. The fun of driving a Vette. If the only point is to get from point A to point B, then there are much less expensive cars that can be bought.

 

Don't worry about it, buy it and enjoy it so I can buy it for less when you sell it.

I love buying used! Most never put many miles on their Corvettes so it's always like buying a new car for 1/2 the price.

I used to buy new every other year, but once I decided to quit that routine and buy with cash....Life is much better and relaxed.

 

Nobody needs a corvette, they WANT a corvette. Depreciation is the price you pay to enjoy this luxury. Putting a price on enjoyment can sometimes be priceless. :o)

 

Chances are every car you've purchased thus far in life has lost thousands of dollars in depreciation.

Why is the C7 any different?

 

Most everything depreciates in value immediately after purchase. The one thing that always appreciated was housing but that too is no longer true. There are many original priced 500k homes out there selling for 300k today!